Commissioners renegotiate jail contract for a savings

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Updated: March 3, 2012 11:35AM

CROWN POINT — The county will realize a $69,000 savings, thanks to a renegotiated contract for the jail’s mental health services.

Sheriff John Buncich and his attorney John Bushemi presented to the Lake County Commissioners on Wednesday an amended contract for RJS Justice Services, the consulting firm working on the improvements required of the Lake County Jail by the U.S. Department of Justice. The contract, which overrides one passed by the commissioners Dec. 21, costs $361,000, down from the original $430,000, though it covers the same time period of Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012.

Bushemi said commissioners attorney John Dull renegotiated the contract with RJS principal Ken Ray.

The new contract still pays Ray $125 per hour, but it increases his duties. It also increases the pay to $275 for Ray Shansky, one of the doctors providing services. In turn, it decreases the number of hours Shansky will work, Bushemi said.

Additionally, $45,000 of the $361,000 will be recuperated from Correctional Health Indiana, the mental-health training firm run by Dr. William Forgey, according to Bushemi.

Buncich told the commissioners that mental-health staffing at the jail is “up-to-par” and that an ordinance modifying the number of part-time counseling positions for which the jail can hire will come before the Lake County Council at its next meeting.

The commissioners voted 3-0 to both rescind the former contract and approve the new one.

The commission also voted 3-0 to appoint its special assistant, Tramel Raggs, to its post on the Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority. Raggs replaces Gary Deputy Mayor Delvert Cole.